Billionaire investor and the winner of thousands of Bitcoins (BTC) in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2014 Silk Road auctions, Tim Draper, has set his sights on India’s nascent cryptocurrency industry. On March 22, the venture capitalist tweeted that the Supreme Court’s recent reversal of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on banks providing financial services to crypto companies will drive a renaissance for the country’s cryptocurrency sector. In a March 21 interview with Inc42, Draper stated that he “met several Bitcoin and crypto startups” during a recent trip to India, adding that he “hope[s] to be able to …

A woman was arrested in Bengaluru, India on March 17 for allegedly stealing 63.5 Bitcoins (BTC) from Bitcipher Labs — a cryptocurrency exchange that she had previously co-founded. The thefts took place on January 11 and March 11 respectively, resulting in $480,000 worth of BTC being stolen from Bitcipher. Bitcipher co-founder steals $480,000 in BTC Ayushi Jain, the 26-year-old former-employee, was found to have stolen 63.5 BTC from hardware wallets owned by the exchange. Indian police acted in response to a complaint filed by Bitcipher Labs’ CEO, Ashish Singhal, who had identified the two unauthorized transactions. The Bengaluru Investigation Department …

A filing submitted in the lower house of India’s parliament — the Lok Sabha — has revealed an investigation into fraudulent practices by so-called “bit coin companies” operating in the country. An official question was submitted by center-left parliamentarian Mohammed Faizal and was answered by Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur on March 16. Indian politician requests investigation into regulatory status of crypto companies Faizal asked the Minister of Corporate Affairs three questions relating to cryptocurrency companies in India. Firstly, he asked if the government is aware of an increasing number of reports alleging “cheating and …

Major crypto exchange Binance and WazirX — the Indian competitor it acquired in November 2019 — have announced a fund aimed at sustaining blockchain development in India. The “Blockchain for India” initiative was announced on March 16 and it is meant to promote the use and adoption of blockchain technologies in the country. With WazirX, the firm has set up a $50 million fund backed by Binance Coin (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD) and WazirX (WRX) to invest in local blockchain projects. WazirX CEO and founder Nischal Shetty said: “With this fund, we want to encourage and enable more and more …

Crypto exchange CoinDCX has announced on March 12 a $1.3 million funding towards increasing awareness and adoption of cryptocurrencies in India. According to the company, the funds will go towards a long-term project called TryCrypto, which will seek to introduce 50 million Indian consumers to cryptocurrencies. Items to be funded within TryCrypto Educational programs, seminars, workshops, and distance courses are among the fronts that the CoinDCX initiative aims to finance, representing 15% of the funds allocated to said project. Roadshows and awareness campaigning will be 25% of the total investment, while meetups, community events, and community engagement will receive another …

Since coming to power back in 2016, President Trump seemed to have reinvigorated the United States stock market after it showed signs of slowing down throughout the first half of the previous decade. Just three weeks ago, the American market witnessed a combined gain of 58% compared with the last three or so years. However, following the World Health Organization’s recent declaration of the novel coronavirus pandemic on March 11 — with the independent research body citing 118,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths globally — this rosy picture seems to have reversed almost overnight. Additionally, ever since news of …

Earlier this month, India’s Supreme Court delivered its verdict in a landmark case that promised to usher in a bullish era for cryptocurrency in the country. The Court ruled to overturn a circular from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) — issued back in April 2018 — which had banned banks’ services to all crypto-related firms. Not all banks, however, appear to be complying with the ruling. On March 12, fintech lawyer Mohammed Danish filed a representation with the central bank against the “arbitrary denial” of certain domestic banks to provide services in support of the sale or purchase of …

The U.S. based crypto exchange Kraken will start to increase its operations in the Indian market following the recent ruling of the country’s Supreme Court to lift banks’ banning to do business with crypto companies, according to a March 9th announcement. According to Kraken, its growth in India was hampered by the ban on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). However, they did not give further details regarding the plans for this large market. Future is bright for the Indian market Sunny Ray, Head of Global Business Development at Kraken, said the following regarding the decision of the Indian Supreme …

Crypto developers must follow consumers closely if they want the industry to take off in a big way, Paypal’s chief technical officer has said. Sri Shivananda — an eBay veteran who has been in his role at PayPal since 2016 — made his remarks at the Economic Times (ET) Global Business Summit, ET reported on March 9. During his speech, Shivananda noted that cryptocurrency has, in many cases, become more akin to “asset play” than to currency. He said: “The main thing to keep in mind in this business is to follow consumers. If consumers start to feel like there’s …

Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week India’s Supreme Court overturns controversial ban on banks servicing crypto firms There’s a lot to chew concerning movements in the crypto markets, but the first story is of a different kind. A controversial ban that prohibited banks from dealing with crypto-related companies in India has been overturned by the country’s Supreme Court. The Reserve Bank …

As time progresses, the revolution of peer-to-peer digital currencies picks up speed. Now, countries like India and Iran, which previously had a harsh legal stance on cryptocurrencies, are warming up to the idea of adopting them. In India, for instance, the Supreme Court has struck down a blanket ban that was placed on banks dealing with crypto-related businesses back in April 2018. In Iran — while the country’s central bank had issued a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies in a misguided move to prevent capital flight due to fears of sanctions by the United States — the central bank is now …

The Indian Crypto Bulls Roadshow describes itself as a not-for-profit initiative that seeks to educate Indian citizens as to the emerging blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors. The roadshow was originally scheduled to visit eight major Indian cities over 20 days — New Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. However, following India’s Supreme Court ruling that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on banks providing services to companies operating with crypto was unconstitutional, the roadshow has scheduled seven additional cities to host the event — Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Patna, and Kanpur. To plan for the additional locations, …